This article will go over a list of turmeric health benefits so that you can also benefit from it by using it for the various benefits it has on your health.
A relative of ginger, this vivid yellow-orange spice is common in Indian, Southeast Asian, and Middle Eastern cooking. It’s also been used as medicine in places like India for centuries to treat issues such as breathing problems. Lately, turmeric has been touted as a superfood that can fight cancer, ease depression, and more. Find out what turmeric can and can’t do for your health.
What is Turmeric?
Turmeric is a spice that comes from the root of the Curcuma longa plant, which is a perennial in the ginger family. Its major active ingredient is curcumin. “Curcumin gives turmeric that yellowish color,” Hopsecger says. “But beware: It stains easily. Try not to get it on your clothing!”
Turmeric’s treasure lies in curcumin’s benefits. Curcumin has antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties. Researchers are investigating whether it may help diseases in which inflammation plays a role — from arthritis to ulcerative colitis.
Turmeric Health Benefits
1. Aids Weight Loss
Obesity can lead to several different health issues, such as high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and others. If you’re an otherwise healthy individual, weight loss can be pretty straightforward. However, if you have a pre-existing metabolic disorder, things can be a bit more complicated.
Several trials have shown that curcumin benefits metabolic disorders by helping stabilize metabolism and manage weight. Turmeric increases insulin sensitivity, regulates lipid metabolism, and targets fat by suppressing multiple processes responsible for the growth of adipose tissue.
2. Anti-inflammatory
Inflammation is the body’s immune system responding to irritants or threats. Inflamed areas often swell up, turn red, or become painful. While this is a healthy and normal bodily reaction, sometimes the immune system goes awry. If inflammation becomes chronic, it can lead to significant health problems.
Many trials have demonstrated curcumin’s anti-inflammatory properties through its inhibition of key inflammatory markers in the body. Turmeric’s antioxidant activity also helps reduce oxidative stress, a process linked to low-grade inflammation.
3. Helpful in Arthritis and Joint Pain
One of the most common uses for turmeric extract is combating the discomfort from joint pain and arthritis. Severe arthritic symptoms include limited range of motion, joint stiffness, excessive swelling, and lack of mobility. These symptoms can get worse over time, causing permanent damage if left untreated.
Research shows that curcumin inhibits many of the mediators of inflammation linked to rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, and osteoarthritis development. Turmeric consistently reduces arthritis symptomology and may serve as an excellent complementary treatment for joint pain.
4. Helpful to Improve Memory and Brain Function
Another clinical trial showed that 90 milligrams of curcumin taken twice a day for 18 months helped improve memory performance in adults without dementia.
“Researchers thought that the reduction in brain inflammation and curcumin’s antioxidant properties led to less decline in neurocognition, which is the ability to think and reason,” Hopsecger says. “Curcumin may also have a role in preventing the development of Alzheimer’s disease — however, that’s an area where we need more research.”
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5. Improves Skin Health
Our skin is the all-important, outermost protective layer of our body. Skin keeps us safe from harmful microbes and regulates our internal body temperature. At times, unwanted skin conditions may arise that require treatment such as chronic acne, eczema, and psoriasis.
Many DIYers use turmeric powder to create face masks, pastes, and other topical solutions to heal the skin. Researchers have confirmed that curcumin reduces oxidative stress associated with inflammatory skin conditions. Turmeric also enhances collagen synthesis and significantly speeds up tissue repair.
6. Lowers risk of heart disease
With its ability to help reduce inflammation and oxidation, turmeric could lower the risk of heart disease.
Studies show that turmeric may help reverse the heart disease process. In healthy middle-aged and older adults who took curcumin supplements for 12 weeks, resistance artery endothelial production — which plays a significant role in high blood pressure — was increased.
Another study followed 121 people who had coronary artery bypass surgery. A few days before and after the surgery, the group that took 4 grams of curcumin a day saw a 65% decreased risk of having a heart attack in the hospital.
Turmeric also may be helpful when used along with medication for managing cholesterol levels. Research shows that curcumin is safe and may protect those at risk for heart disease by lowering certain levels of cholesterol, though more study is needed to look at how much and what type is effective.
7. Helpful in Fighting Depression
When you experience depression, your brain’s production of the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), a protein that aids in learning and memory, is decreased, and your hippocampus begins to shrink. According to a study, curcumin can raise BDNF levels and perhaps undo alterations.
Another study found that curcumin was just as efficient at reducing depressive symptoms as fluoxetine (Prozac). Serotonin and dopamine, two substances in the brain that control mood and other bodily functions, may also be increased by curcumin.
8. Prevents Cancer
Several studies suggest that curcumin may influence the growth and progression of cancer. In one study on colorectal cancer, there was a 40% decrease in the number of lesions in men’s colons.
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9. Improves Irritable Bowel Syndrome
Early research, including a pilot study of 207 adults and another one using rats, has found that turmeric could help improve IBS symptoms such as abdominal pain. Like many things we’ve already covered here, more research is needed. Turmeric is also being studied as a treatment for diseases like Crohn’s and ulcerative colitis.
10. Thyroid Disease
Thyroid disease is highly pervasive in many populations around the world. Curcumin’s unique ability to combat inflammation, reduce bacterial overgrowth, and fight free radicals helps support a healthy thyroid environment. Turmeric capsules can also help relieve uncomfortable symptoms that accompany thyroid disorders.
11. Detoxifies Liver
To ensure that our bodies receive the nutrients it needs, a liver detox, sometimes referred to as a cleanse, involves the elimination of impurities from the blood and vitamin metabolization. Consider the liver as the primary filtering mechanism of the body. The key to optimum physical and mental wellness is a functioning liver.
Through blocking inflammatory pathways, curcumin has been shown in numerous studies to reduce the harm hazardous chemicals cause to the liver. Additionally, turmeric increases bile flow and release from the gallbladder, which aids in the body’s removal of waste.
In Conclusion
Turmeric — and especially its most active compound, curcumin — have many scientifically proven health benefits, such as the potential to improve heart health and prevent Alzheimer’s and cancer.
It’s a potent anti-inflammatory and antioxidant. It may also help improve symptoms of depression and arthritis.
While these benefits are possible, they are limited at this time because of curcumin’s scarce bioavailability, and more research is needed.